“To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”
“To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”
i posted this because there's a video of mayock interviewing jackson after the pro day.
“To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”
He threw with good velocity, has some nice zip on the ball showing his arm strength. Threw the deep ball with ease and touch. I give him props for throwing the entire session from under center. He was the only QB thus far to actually throw form under center instead of "simulating". His footwork was much better. Good explosion from center and solid, condifent drop backs and kept a better (wider) base compared to when he gets narrow at times on film.
He missed 2 that I noted. Sailed a swing pass to the RB on the (R) sideline Sailed a deep out on the (R) sideline. I think he missed another throw that I forgot to write down. 3 misses out of 59? Is pretty good.
Negatives: (Most of the negatives result imho from lack of agent)
-poorly paced too slow and a bit unorganized -receivers dropped a lot of passes (bringing in receivers would have helped in both areas) -i think the script should have featured more outside routes (deep sideline, comebacks) would have liked to see him drive the ball more -the QB coach or whomever put the script together should have did a media hit with Mayock and ESPN and sold Lamar and mentioned what aspects of his game they were focused on -i think Lamar should have ran the 40 after the throwing session was finished
Good pro-day. But hearing that NFL teams are having a hard time reaching him to set-up interviews and meetings was the worst news coming out of his pro-day and could hurt his draft stock if teams aren't able to get to know him.
Quarterback Lamar Jackson decided that he didn’t need an agent. Some teams may be wishing he’d made a different decision.
Via Albert Breer of SI.com, NFL Network’s Mike Mayock said during the coverage of the Louisville Pro Day workout that teams are having trouble setting up workouts and meetings with Jackson. If Jackson had an agent (more accurately, a good agent), inability to communicate, coordinate, etc. wouldn’t be an issue.
He went 47 out of 59. I agree his recievers didnt help him however, they also bailed him out on a couple of throws. Bottom line... drops in the NFL don't count as completions.
If you're counting completions that's fine for you. But I didn't watch any of the QBs prodays and count completions.
When i watch a QB throwing session,be it combine or proday; i look at the QB's throws. Were the passes on target or off target? Were they well placed?
Oh, sorry, I only was replying to you saying that he only missed like 3 throws.
If we are going to discuss his throwing motion/footwork/accuracy...
His throwing motion is still a little iffy. It doesn't always stay in the same slot
His footwork... it's slightly improved. I will give you that. However... as soon as he rolls out, he still throws too tall. THat is not improved.
Accuracy... If you watch his throws again.. a lot of his throws to a receiver in the slant were slightly behind them or were wobbly. The receivers had to slow down to catch the pass. On short passes that were further out and came to the middle, the passes were high and away from the receiver. When he was throwing to the sidelines... 10-20 yards he was all over the place. His receivers were constantly adjusting to his passes. His accuracy has not improved.
I watched it and I was not wowed. It was more of the Lamar Jackson we know on tape.
It sounds like you think he had a bad day and thats fine.
We saw something different. I certainly didnt see as many off target throws as you. LJ's proday throwing session for me was on par with the other QB prospects. They all missed about a handful of throws.
I gave my thoughts on the whole of his pro-day in more detail in my the previous post....if you want to talk about any of that stuff
It sounds like you think he had a bad day and thats fine.
We saw something different. I certainly didnt see as many off target throws as you. LJ's proday throwing session for me was on par with the other QB prospects. They all missed about a handful of throws.
I gave my thoughts on the whole of his pro-day in more detail in my the previous post....if you want to talk about any of that stuff
Are you not on record at saying Lamar is your guy? Sometimes what we wish we saw just is not the case.
Defense wins championships. Watson play your butt off! Go Browns! CHRIST HAS RISEN! GM Strong! & Stay safe everyone!
1) I think Jackson's draft stock is unchanged coming out of the pro day. I don't think he did anything to help or hurt himself. I've consistently said I expect him to be selected between picks 25 and 35. I feel the same way after his workout.
2. The Jaguars, Steelers, Saints are the team fits I hear most frequently for Jackson. Those all make sense and could be good landing spots for him, but the perfect coach for Jackson is the Chiefs' Andy Reid, given his demonstrated ability to cater his offense to the strengths of his QB, including a dual-threat like Michael Vick, the player that Jackson is often compared to. Reid has his QB in Patrick Mahomes, though, so I'm not expecting Jackson to end up with the Chiefs, who don't have a pick until late in Round 2 after trading their 2018 first-rounder to go up and get Mahomes last year.
3) I thought the ball came out of Jackson's hand better on Thursday than it did earlier this month at the NFL Scouting Combine. It was clear during his pro-day workout that he improved some things as far as working with a wider base, which was encouraging to see. However, the concern I have about his accuracy throwing the ball outside the hashes still exists. That's still something he's working through. He was inconsistent in that regard on Thursday. I would like to have seen him make more drive throws during the workout, but he really emphasized underneath and touch throws.
4) A lot is being made of his decision not to run the 40-yard dash at the combine and his pro day. I don't think that the decision will hurt him in the draft, but if I were advising him, I would've suggested he run the 40 at the combine because we know he's fast and would have put on an impressive show in the event. Then, he would have that run out of the way and wouldn't have faced any more questions about it at his pro day. It was more of a mistake not to run at the combine than it was to sit it out Thursday. We talked a lot about the questions surrounding Josh Allen's accuracy last week during his pro day. However, he makes up for some of that by showing off his arm strength and how special he is in that area. Jackson had an opportunity Thursday to show everyone that while he's still working on his accuracy, he has an incredible amount to offer from an athletic standpoint. By choosing not to test Thursday, Jackson missed that opportunity.
5) The pro-day workout reinforced an issue that we saw throughout the 2017 season for Louisville -- the receivers have trouble catching the ball. I think Jackson will be pleasantly surprised when he gets to the next level and finds he has much more reliable pass-catchers to throw to.
I think whoever drafts Jackson may be getting a very good QB. I would not take him over Darnold, Rosen, Allen or Mayfield but I think he will have a successful career.
I just want a winner. We need players who can be part of the solution not part of the problem.
Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks take an in-depth dive into one of the more intriguing prospects in the 2018 draft class, quarterback Lamar Jackson. The guys give their take on the dynamic QB before they sit down with his high school (4:17) and college coaches (16:05) to give you a full picture of the player, as well as the person. DJ and Bucky also interview a popular comparison to Jackson, Michael Vick (32:21), to ask which player was better coming out of college. You might be surprised by his answer.
This is ridiculously long, and i haven't had time to read it, but i figured i'd post it either way for folks who might be interested.
----------------- Lamar Jackson, His Mother, and the Plan They’ve Always Had
By JONATHAN JONES April 03, 2018 LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville entered the 2015 season with plenty of quarterbacks, but the Cardinals were struggling to find a punt returner.
True freshman QB Lamar Jackson’s athleticism was so tantalizing, and the need for a dynamic returner so urgent, that someone on the coaching staff asked him to go field a punt and see what happens.
Seemingly minutes after practice had ended, members of the coaching staff got a call from Jackson’s mother, Felicia Jones. Head coach Bobby Petrino had lured Jackson to the Bluegrass State with the assurance that the freshman would be a quarterback and only a quarterback. Punt returner doesn’t look like quarterback, Jones said. She reminded them all of the promise Petrino had made to her and her son while sitting on a couch in their South Florida home. Jackson never went back for a punt return in practice again.
Jackson is arguably the most unique and perplexing prospect in this year’s draft. Few quarterbacks in any class can match his athletic ability, yet he’s solidly fifth in this crop, according to most projections. There have been calls to move him to wide receiver, echoing the ugliness of how talented black quarterbacks have been treated by football’s white decision-makers throughout the sport’s history. And there’s the business side of it for Jackson, entering a multibillion-dollar league without the guidance of an experienced agent, something that almost never happens for a potential first-round quarterback.
His mother is his manager, though no one really knows what that means. Is she a helicopter parent, or is she simply steering a ship that’s being carried by the current? Did she tell him not to run the 40 or do agility drills, and if so, why? Why is she easier to reach for some teams than for others?
To a man, in interviews with people who have known Jackson and his mother since he was a teenager, everyone says Felicia Jones has her son’s best interests at heart. Clearly those interests are to ensure that he’s a starting NFL quarterback, a path they’ve traveled together for years.
Like Jackson’s pre-draft process, so much of his narrative is in the shadows. His mother is fiercely private; it seems the only interview she has ever granted was to ESPN the night Jackson won the Heisman in 2016. It has rubbed off on her son—nearly every media request his camp has received since he declared for the draft has been declined.
Jackson has said his father died in a car accident when he was 8, and on that same day his grandmother died, too. Jones told him then not to cry, that they would do better and amount to something. And that’s the extent of Jackson’s public comments about a defining moment in his life.
He began his high school career at Santaluces High in Lantana, Fla., about 60 miles north of Miami on Florida’s east coast, but left at some point after his freshman year. One person interviewed for this story thought it was because he wasn’t guaranteed the starting quarterback role and was splitting time. Jackson transferred to nearby Boynton Beach.
When you play high school football in South Florida, it’s almost a rite of passage to transfer schools at least once. Whatever the reason, “it was a gift from the football gods” for Rick Swain. The head coach at Boynton Beach had been running the Wing-T shotgun for the better part of two decades when Jackson transferred in. Jackson had done some passing drills before spring ball and looked good, but Swain had a converted wide receiver whom he had been grooming to take over at quarterback. He put in an option play for Jackson on the first day of spring practice, and Jackson read the end, stuck his foot in the ground, turned north and went 60 yards untouched.
“Man, we’re changing offenses,” Swain remembers telling his assistant coach. “I’ve run this offense off and on for 20 years, but that ain’t what we need to be running with this kid.”
And thus, for the first time, a coach tailored his offense for Lamar Jackson. Swain had never been a subscriber to the philosophy that you put your best athlete at quarterback. Jackson changed that. Boynton Beach went to the pistol with four wideouts as its base; occasionally a tight end would be used. The idea was simple: spread out the defense and let Jackson shred it.
Once, Swain caught a wild hair and wanted to use his best athlete as a safety in obvious passing downs and Hail Mary situations, hardly an unusual strategy. But just as with the punt return a few years later, it never happened.
“Coach,” Swain remembers Jones telling him, “he’s a quarterback. And I don’t want anybody to think he’s anything else.”
But many did think he was something else, even if they couldn’t put a finger on it. A three-star recruit, Jackson was sought-after as an athlete by dozens of top colleges, but he was only going where he could play quarterback, and with a realistic chance to start early. Some engineering had to be done.
In 2013, Lamar Thomas, the former University of Miami wideout who spent eight seasons in the NFL, was coaching receivers at Western Kentucky under Bobby Petrino. It was Swain, Thomas’s high school coach, who put him on to Jackson. Petrino took the Louisville job in January 2014, and Thomas followed him, continuing to recruit Jackson. He had a tough time selling his boss on the quarterback’s tape, though, so he came up with a different approach.
“His highlight film at first was runs and then throws,” Thomas says. “I told [Swain], Hey, put that throwing on his highlight film first. Don’t put that running crap up first.”
Swain changed the film and posted a new highlight tape to Hudl. Thomas sat down with Petrino in the offensive meeting room.
Have you told me about this kid before?
“Yes, coach.”
Can we get this kid?
“Coach, I got him!”
Thomas had to sell momma first, though. Louisville had to promise that Jackson would be a quarterback-only. The first time Thomas met Felicia Jones, he did all the talking, and she stared at him without saying a word. He says they laugh about that now.
Thomas’s word wasn’t enough, however. Jones needed to hear it from Petrino. So the coach walked into her home and promised that her son would play quarterback-only and have a chance for significant playing time as a true freshman. Jackson was on his way to joining the Cardinals.
“Just from being around the situation, to get Coach Petrino to say something like that, that was big. That was huge,” Thomas says. “It was also him being a man of his word. It forced him to be a man of his word, and it was a good thing.”
Jackson’s first fall camp at Louisville played out just like his first spring practice at Boynton Beach. He was competing with Reggie Bonnafon and Kyle Bolin, both of whom had started games the previous season. The Cardinals put a read-option play in for Jackson, who read the end perfectly, stuck his foot in the ground and went north for a 75-yard touchdown.
“You could see his natural ability in camp. That’s why we knew we were going to have to play him,” says quarterbacks coach Nick Petrino. “There wasn’t going to be any redshirt situation. We knew we were going to have to develop him throughout the year, and he’d end up playing. But [being too raw] coming out of high school is why he didn’t start right away.”
Bonnafon won the right to start against Auburn in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game, but Jackson got the first pass attempt of the season when Petrino dialed up a trick play on the first play from scrimmage. Jackson rolled right, away from pressure, and threw a prayer near the sideline into double coverage. Interception.
As Petrino wove a tapestry of obscenities over the headset to his offensive coaches, Thomas went over to Jackson on the bench, put his hands on the young quarterback’s shoulders and told him to forget about it.
“I’m good, coach,” Jackson said to Thomas. “When am I going to be able to get back in?”
Louisville, a double-digit underdog to the sixth-ranked Tigers, was down 14-0 midway through the second quarter when Petrino put Jackson back in the game, this time at quarterback. He led three second-half touchdown drives—rushing for 106 yards and throwing for 100—and Louisville nearly finished the comeback in a 31-24 loss.
The Cardinals played musical chairs at the position until the regular-season finale at Kentucky. After a Bolin pick-six put UK up 21-0 midway through the first quarter, Petrino pulled his starter. Again, Thomas went over to his prized recruit on the bench.
“L.J., are you ready?”
“Coach, I was born ready.”
Jackson would account for 316 yards of total offense and three touchdowns in a 38-24 win. He never relinquished the job.
During that freshman year Jackson roomed with receiver Jaylen Smith, who went on to become his favorite target last season. After games, Jackson would put his mom on speakerphone, and she would offer critiques of the roommates’ performances.
“She doesn’t [hold back],” Smith says. “And kids like us needed that. I didn’t take it like, ‘Who is she to tell me what I’m supposed to be doing.’ Nah, she’s really watching and knows what’s going on.”
Jackson and his mother, Felicia Jones, at the 2016 Heisman ceremony.
Jackson and his mother, Felicia Jones, at the 2016 Heisman ceremony.
ICON SPORTSWIRE Jackson’s sophomore year is now legend. He passed for 3,543 yards, with 30 touchdowns and nine interceptions, and rushed for 1,571 yards and 21 TDs, winning the Heisman with nearly twice as many first-place votes as runner-up Deshaun Watson.
Petrino wanted to expand his offense going into Jackson’s junior season, and the quarterback had reached a point in his development where he was able to rely less on his legs. The Cardinals spent the first week of spring ball working him solely under center. The dropback passing game received greater emphasis, and Jackson began the process of widening his narrow throwing base. As the coaches molded him into a better passing quarterback, he got more freedom at the line of scrimmage to make checks.
“Like the head coach says,” the younger Petrino starts, “he has the freedom to make the checks we tell him to on every play.”
But Jackson didn’t get the publicity typically afforded to a reigning Heisman winner. Throughout the fall, as his numbers began to eclipse those of his sophomore season, Jackson often remained an afterthought in the national conversation. He has been mostly quiet since he left Louisville, doing a group interview at the NFL scouting combine last month and a couple hits with ESPN. In that combine interview he said his mother was his manager but not his agent, that he will not hire an agent, and that he will use a lawyer to look over his rookie contract. Jones has kept her silence, just as she did throughout Jackson’s collegiate career. She declined multiple interview requests from The MMQB over the past two months. For these two, mum’s the word.
“It’s not that she’s trying to—in my opinion—control him,” Thomas says. “They’ve been through a lot together. For them to want to stay together and try to do this thing together, that’s the way they’ve always been. They’d just rather the play do the talking.
“You’ve seen parents before in these ordeals where they try to be the spokesperson, whether it’s [LaVar] Ball or [Todd] Marinovich’s dad a long time ago. That’s not her deal. Can you blame her? If she was one of those people who was trying to put herself in front of all this, you’d say, ‘Oh here we go.’ But it’s not like that.
“It’s different than sometimes it’s portrayed. I know it’s hard for you guys in the media because she’s not accessible or talkative, but would you rather have it the Ball way or this way?”
At Louisville’s pro day last week, multiple teams expressed to The MMQB that it’s been difficult to get in touch with Jackson and that calls have not been returned. This information is coming straight from teams and not, as some theorize, from agents wishing to crush Jackson’s choice to not hire one.
The entire pre-draft process has been unique for Jackson. A potential first-round pick, he’s met with the Texans (who have Deshaun Watson and don’t choose until the third round) and the Chargers and, according to ESPN, has a private workout with the hometown Dolphins. At this point, it’s unclear which other teams, if any, Jackson has met with since the combine.
After his pro day workout, Jackson spoke to former Heisman winner Andre Ware of ESPN, before going to NFL Network’s Mike Mayock for a four-minute sit down. Both of those interviews were approved by Jones, who did not O.K. Jackson taking questions from other media in attendance, as is the custom at pro days.
It’s also unclear if Jackson has an apparel endorser. Again, most players of his caliber would be suited and booted by Nike, Adidas or Under Armour by now, their social media pages awash with corporate thank-yous for the easy check. At his pro day, Jackson wore a school-issued Adidas top and shorts, then slipped off his Gucci sandals before his workout to don orange-and-silver Nike cleats.
And finally, Jackson’s decision to not run the 40 at either the combine or his pro day drew the most scrutiny (curiously, more than the reports of NFL teams being unable to reach him). It’s obvious Jackson is the fastest quarterback in this draft and likely the fastest since Michael Vick. What will a 40 time tell NFL teams other than reaffirming the beliefs of those who think he’s more athlete than quarterback? From Jackson’s perspective, how does that help him get drafted as a QB?
Joshua Harris has been coaching Jackson since the quarterback left Louisville. Harris is a high school coach in South Florida who reportedly played college football at Miami before transferring to Tennessee State. He scripted a pro day workout that saw Jackson get under center for all 59 of his throws, and Jackson worked with his receivers in Louisville for the three days before last Thursday’s big day. Felicia Jones was there for the practices.
“She brought me and him together two days ago when we were running routes in here,” says Bonnafon, the Louisville quarterback-turned-receiver/running back who performed well at the pro day. “She was telling me to come out of my breaks and not wait on him to throw the ball. She’s like, ‘Don’t wait on Lamar to place the ball. If you’re already out of your break and he’s late, that’s his fault.’ It’s kind of different. But she’s a great lady.”
Jackson looked great throwing the ball, better than the numbers (47-for-59) would suggest. Of his 12 misses, eight were drops and one was a wide receiver slip. He was inaccurate on just three throws. Harris directed Jackson, and the coach was flanked by two friends of Jackson’s family, though no one in Jackson’s camp or from Louisville would or could divulge their names.
The three men wore black outfits with a “Super 8” logo printed on them. Inside the red 8 were the words: God, prayer, faith, family, education, sacrifice, character, discipline. These are the eight core values Jones has espoused for years. She sat in a black swivel chair past midfield as Jackson worked his way through the script from the opposite 40 into the red zone. When the workout was complete, several of Jackson’s receivers came over to hug her.
“Did I do good?,” tight end Charles Standberry asked her. She told him yes. “I ain’t trying to get your son…” he said before trailing off, out of breath.
The Super 8 team gathered their belongings and headed to the exit of the indoor practice facility. Waiting outside was Chargers offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt and quarterbacks coach Shane Steichen. In Philip Rivers, the Chargers have an aging franchise quarterback, and coach Anthony Lynn gushed about Jackson’s playmaking ability at the combine. The team wanted to meet with Jackson.
And so Louisville reserved a room at the team facilities, and Whisenhunt and Harris communicated about where exactly the room was located. Then Jackson, his coach, his family friends and his mother walked off together as the quarterback headed to his latest job interview.
• Question or comment? Email us at talkback@themmqb.com.
the 40 time thing is still a good debate. i understand completely why he didnt want to run it.
the agent situation....eh. we will see. if his mom actually finesses this to the point where Lamar lands in a really good spot that they aimed for, then was it really a bad idea?
we have to just let this play out. its certainly better than if she went full on Lavar Ball.
“To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”
Browns will host Louisville QB Lamar Jackson on visit next weekby Scott Petrak April 3, 2018
Louisville’s Lamar Jackson has been conspicuously absent when the top quarterbacks are mentioned in connection with the Browns, who have the Nos. 1 and 4 picks in the upcoming draft.
Perhaps that should change.
Jackson, who won the Heisman Trophy in 2016, will visit Browns headquarters next week, a league source confirmed to The Chronicle-Telegram.
Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield started the string of quarterback visits to Berea on Tuesday. USC’s Sam Darnold, Wyoming’s Josh Allen and UCLA’s Josh Rosen will follow, along with Jackson.
Darnold is considered the favorite to be chosen No. 1, but rumors of general manager John Dorsey leaning toward Allen persist. Rosen and Mayfield haven’t been ruled out.
Dorsey recently led a contingent from the organization, including owner Jimmy Haslam, on a tour of pro days and private workouts for Darnold, Allen, Rosen and Mayfield.
Jackson, the best athlete of the bunch, didn’t make that list but remains on the radar.
“I’m going to do my due diligence on him, I mean, we have to,” coach Hue Jackson said last week at the owners meetings. “The guy had a tremendous career at Louisville, so we’ll know about him, as well.”
Lamar Jackson (6-foot, 200 pounds) is perhaps the most intriguing prospect in the draft. He threw for 9,043 yards and 69 touchdowns and rushed for 4,132 yards and 50 touchdowns in three years with the Cardinals.
Some teams drool at the prospect of him scaring defenses from behind center. Others have suggested a move to receiver because of his speed and inconsistency as a thrower (57 percent completed).
Jackson has always been against a position switch and won’t entertain the possibility as he’s about to achieve his NFL dream.
“Whoever likes me at quarterback, that’s where I’m going,” he said at the scouting combine. “That’s strictly my position.”
Odds are against the Browns taking Jackson in the top five, but if they pass on a quarterback or trade down, he would come into play. He would fit the offense Hue Jackson and coordinator Todd Haley will install for veteran starter Tyrod Taylor, who’s also a dual threat.
“So if you kind of take a look out there, the one way-outside-the-box conversation is Lamar Jackson, who I think is the most electrifying player in this draft, and I think somebody’s going to take him and commit their offensive philosophy to him,” NFL Network’s Mike Mayock said. “I would tell you that the most nervous 31 people in the league would be the defensive coordinators that would have to play against him.”
the 40 time thing is still a good debate. i understand completely why he didnt want to run it.
the agent situation....eh. we will see. if his mom actually finesses this to the point where Lamar lands in a really good spot that they aimed for, then was it really a bad idea?
we have to just let this play out. its certainly better than if she went full on Lavar Ball.
I still love what I saw from Lamar on the field.
Imho not having a top agent was a very bad decision by Lamar and his team. The top agents really emphasize preparing their players during the pre-draft process and it works.
But, like you said we'll see how it plays out. Prior to Mayock's report that teams were having a hard time getting in touch with Lamar to set meetings and interviews I considered him a sure fire 1st round prospect. I guess we'll see how it plays out.
The 2018 NFL Draft class at quarterback is loaded with talent with as many as six quarterbacks slated in various mock drafts to be selected in the very first round later this month including six in the first 40 selections of the PFF Mock Draft 4. We at Pro Football Focus have charted every single play of every single game for every FBS team over the past four seasons and with that wealth of data, we have a multitude of numbers at our fingertips to study in regards to every position, not just quarterback. While we’ve looked at our top-ranked cornerbacks and wide receivers by specific traits on the field including routes where they were targeted and snap alignments, with the calendars turning to April, we shift focus to our top-ranked quarterbacks with similar studies. Lamar Jackson enters the 2018 NFL Draft behind a litany of questions. While some are bold enough to project him at a position other than quarterback at the next level, Jackson shined as a signal-caller for the Louisville offense for three seasons, winning the Heisman Trophy during his sophomore year. We have charted every throw of Jackson’s career at Louisville, every route he’s targeted, the average depth of his every throw, to what side of the field and a bevy of other advanced metrics throughout his time with the Cardinals.
Focusing solely on his passing, and just the 2017 season to be exact, Jackson displayed an ability to work all levels of the field but saw immense success targeting the intermediate level (10-19 yards). On those throws, Jackson fielded a passer rating of 114.5, completing 65-of-108 passes for 1,053 yards and 12 touchdowns.
That’s the bread and butter right there. Intermediate passes.
“To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”
Boy the Media has pushed this guy into the 1st Rd., I remember when they said he should be a WR or would be a 3rd day pick ...
John 3:16 Jesus said "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
Boy the Media has pushed this guy into the 1st Rd., I remember when they said he should be a WR or would be a 3rd day pick ...
Yeah, I remember the losers who are out of the league too.
I have nothing against Jackson I just don't think he is as good as any of the top 4-6 QB's in this draft ...
Last edited by PastorMarc; 04/04/1810:55 AM.
John 3:16 Jesus said "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
We wouldn't be doing our due diligence if we didn't take a close look at Lamar. The kid is a great athlete.
We do only get 30 invites but I guess got a good handle on most and want to make sure about QB. I know all the others were here...what about Mason Rudolf was he invited???
Did we bring in RBs are just going on the other opportunities. Also OL DL is important to take that look as well as the DBs.
Remember our board and we make several of them. But one of them that we make will only have 20 guys on it. Curious on if we have all visit that we end up taking? Good thing to study after the draft with the Visit thread.
jmho
Defense wins championships. Watson play your butt off! Go Browns! CHRIST HAS RISEN! GM Strong! & Stay safe everyone!
U know tab ... with all our picks this year ... the nfl should have granted us more visits ... seriously ... we have 4 picks in the top 34 or so ... and then another 2nd rounder after that and a bunch more after that ...
The 30 visit number was more than likely determined for a team with a few extra draft picks ... not the haul Sashi left us with ...
I think we made a good effort to visit with a lot of these kids at their Pro-days. Now a days even with Skype we can cover a lot of ground. Hey big time Business have meetings all the time. I can see that happening more n more in the Football industry.
But I hear you. All though we did trade a few picks. So that I think we only got 9 picks just 2 more than the 7 norm.
jmho
Defense wins championships. Watson play your butt off! Go Browns! CHRIST HAS RISEN! GM Strong! & Stay safe everyone!
U know tab ... with all our picks this year ... the nfl should have granted us more visits ... seriously ... we have 4 picks in the top 34 or so ... and then another 2nd rounder after that and a bunch more after that ...
The 30 visit number was more than likely determined for a team with a few extra draft picks ... not the haul Sashi left us with ...
A lot of these interviews are used as recruitment pitches for UDFA guys. There's a lot of guys on the visit list that I've never heard of before and I'd like to think of myself as pretty knowledgeable when it comes to draft prospects.
Posted by Mike Florio on April 5, 2018, 11:19 PM EDT
Quarterback Lamar Jackson continues to be one of the biggest puzzles of the 2018 draft, due in part to the fact that Jackson doesn’t have an agent. Because he doesn’t have an agent, some teams continue to have a hard time getting in touch with him to arrange pre-draft visits and/or workouts.
Per a league source, one team tried at least seven times to contact Jackson. The team in question wasn’t able to reach him, and the team as of earlier on Thursday had not heard back from him.
And make no mistake about it — Jackson has decided to go without an agent simply because he believes that there’s nothing for an agent to do when the time comes to negotiate a contract.
“I know coming in as a rookie, an agent doesn’t really negotiate anything,” Jackson told Jarrett Bell of USA Today. “You’re going to get the salary you’re going to get. I decided I don’t need him. He’s going to be taking a big cut out of my paycheck . . . and I feel I deserve it right now.”
It’s a horribly short-sighted and ill-informed decision, overlooking the fact that a good agent can get a player drafted higher than he otherwise would have been drafted, and paid more than he otherwise would have been paid. As part of this effort, a good agent can fend off the efforts of other agents to promote their own clients while knocking other players. (And, yes, that happens all the time.)
A good agent also can handle external threats to a player’s draft fortune. When Bill Polian was pushing the notion that Jackson should switch to receiver, a good agent could have tracked down Polian, explained to Polian that Jackson would not be moving to receiver, and politely asked Polian to knock it off. (And if politely didn’t work, a good agent would have handled the situation impolitely.)
Not surprisingly, Richard Sherman (whose decision to represent himself wasn’t an isolated lark but part of a crusade to wipe out agents altogether) supports Jackson’s decision, claiming that “in terms of improving his draft stock or the amount of money [Jackson] receives, there isn’t much they can do.” All due respect, that’s just not accurate — and it reveals that Sherman simply doesn’t understand what good agents do to help their clients get drafted as high as possible and, in turn, get paid as much as possible.
Here’s a quick summary of the things a good agent can do for a rookie, as posted previously in other PFT items regarding rookies choosing to go it alone.
First, despite the relative simplicity of the rookie wage scale, players selected in the first round need to be able to navigate certain nuances and hot spots in the draft order relevant to offset language, guaranteed pay, cash flow, and other structural devices.
Second, a good agent will get the rookie the best possible pre-draft training, ensuring that the player is ready for the various aspects of the pre-draft workouts that follow, and a good agent will cover those expenses.
Third, a good agent will prepare the player for the Wonderlic test, boosting his score to something higher than it otherwise would have been. (Whatever Jackson’s score was — and we’ll post none of them here — having a good agent wouldn’t have made it worse and likely would have made it better.)
Fourth, a good agent will advise the player on whether and to what extent to engage in Scouting Combine activities, and whether and to what extent to engage in pre-draft team visits and private workouts. A good agent will prepare the player regarding what to say and how to say it when meeting with teams. A good agent will serve as the buffer between the player and teams that may not be happy to hear that, for example, the player won’t be visiting the facility or throwing privately for its coaching staff.
Fifth, a good agent can help the player establish a network of mentors and advisors who will help prepare him for the draft and for life in the NFL. Recently, former NFL fullback Michael Robinson took to Twitter to plead with Jackson to get in touch with Robinson so that others with a skill set similar to Jackson’s can help him. If Jackson had an agent, Robinson and those hoping to help Jackson would quickly be able to connect with Jackson, through the agent.
Sixth, a good agent will study rosters and depth charts and coaching staffs and schemes, identifying the best destination for the player’s short-term and long-term interests and embark on a plan to get him there.
Seventh, a good agent will sell his client relentlessly, working scouts, coaches, owners, and media to make the players as desirable as possible.
Eighth, a good agent will try to thread the needle, getting the player in the best spot to thrive. For some players, it’s not about getting drafted as high as possible; it’s about getting drafted in the right spot. A good agent can help make that happen. By having no agent, the player is rolling the dice.
And what’s it really worth to avoid paying agent fees? In 2017, pick No. 15 received a $12.6 million contract, fully guaranteed. Pick No. 17 received a $11.596 million contract, fully guaranteed.
The total difference between No. 15 and No. 17: $1.004 million. The total fee paid by the 15th pick, at a maximum rate of three percent: $378,000.
So if an agent could get Jackson drafted by the Cardinals (who need a quarterback) at No. 15 instead of the Chargers (who need a quarterback) at No. 17, the contract value arising from two-spot difference would pay the entire fee, with more than $600,000 left over.
Sherman is going to continue to believe what he believes, for reasons that perhaps only he knows. The truth continues to be that good agents provide a valuable service to their clients. It’s abundantly clear that Jackson would have benefited from those services, and that those services may have paid for themselves, and then some.
well he's scheduled to visit the browns so there's still hope!
“To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”
Not surprisingly, Richard Sherman (whose decision to represent himself wasn’t an isolated lark but part of a crusade to wipe out agents altogether) supports Jackson’s decision, claiming that “in terms of improving his draft stock or the amount of money [Jackson] receives, there isn’t much they can do.” All due respect, that’s just not accurate — and it reveals that Sherman simply doesn’t understand what good agents do to help their clients get drafted as high as possible and, in turn, get paid as much as possible.
Meanwhile, Joe Thomas pretty much berated Sherman for his contract that he negotiated call it a terrible deal and not much in guaranteed money. So he's not who Lamar should be listening to.
Lamar's visit with us. He did make his self available to us, wonder when we made the visit. Shame we are not in his wheel house so that the visit will do him any good. He should be visiting teams 15-32. That is his best shot. Do we take him at 35? That would be probably over kill for the position.
Now if he's still there at 64. A good possibility.
You never know.
All I know is there is not much good being said from him. But you know what if he gets taken anywhere between 15 and 20 in the first round. The kid is 100% right. Regardless of not having the agent he still gets picked. The contract is pretty much slotted at a certain price.
Now possibly 4 years down the road when a 2nd contract is rolling around and he's had success I would hope he picks up an Agent!
Defense wins championships. Watson play your butt off! Go Browns! CHRIST HAS RISEN! GM Strong! & Stay safe everyone!
It's going to be interested where this kid gets drafted. Not going with an agent is imo the difference between the perception and media coverage of Josh Allen vs Lamar Jackson. Josh Allen is being talked about as the top pick and Allen is being considered anywhere from a top 15 to a WR, lol.
But there has always been a delta between draft media and NFL teams, especially since NFL teams guard there true draft opinions as top level corporate information. So the draft media perception is often different then actual NFL perception.
The importance of the agent run/sponsored pre-draft process is being taken to task and Lamar's draft selection is going to be big time ammo.
Previously I would have considered Lamar a lock for ~15 pick....now who knows?
